Defending champion Magnus Carslen has withdrawn from the World rapid chess championship in New York, taking a stand on his choice of attire: he refused to trade his jeans for trousers, which the world chess governing body FIDE wanted him to, in order to comply with the dress code.
According to Carlsen, during the second day of the tournament, he had told the officials that he was willing to change into the trousers on the third day. He was, however, asked to stick to the dress code after during the second day itself and that he would not be paired for the next round if he did not.
He also said he would not be defending his title at the World blitz championship, which will immediately follow the rapid event. FIDE, in a statement, said Carlsen breached the dress code, which had been put in place to ensure professionalism and fairness to all participants.
Arjun, Humpy and Harika in lead
Meanwhile, on the board, there was plenty of action on day two, at the end of which, there was Indian presence among the leaders in both the open and women’s sections. Arjun Erigaisi, with seven points, shared the lead with three others – Volodar Murzin and Alexander Grischuk of Russia and Jan-Krzysztof Duda of Poland – at the end of the ninth round.
Two Indians, Raunak Sadhwani and R. Praggnanandhaa, were on six points. Four rounds remain.
In the women’ section, former champion K. Humpy and D. Harika were in the lead, along with Ju Wenjun of China after eight rounds. They had 6.5 points, with three rounds remaining. Divya Deshmukh was on five points, while R. Vaishali and Padmini Rout had 4.5.
Published – December 28, 2024 05:26 pm IST
